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Italy's best church art

Last week the archbishop of Venice, Monsignor Francesco Moraglia, caused a stir by asserting that churches should not charge entrance fees. Voices were raised in alarm because many Italian churches, including at least 16 in Venice, contain superb works of art, and issuing tickets to tourists helps fund upkeep and restoration. But the controversy reminded me quite how many wonderful paintings, mosaics and scultpures are there are in Italian churches which you can see without paying to enter. Together they surely rank as Europe's greatest free art gallery - much enhanced that they remain where the artists and patrons intended them to be. Here are 20 of the best. Knowing the problems and costs of resoration, if you visit any of them, you may feel inspired to make a donation after all. Venice 12th-century Mosaics, St Mark's The interior of this magnificent church glows with two about acres of breath-taking mosaics. The earliest date from the 12th century, but work continued for 600-odd years, interweaving stories from the Old and New Testaments with lives of saints and in particular scenes relating to St Mark himself.